Flawed Vegas Strip hotel tower being dismantled

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Crews have started dismantling a structurally flawed and half-finished casino tower on the Las Vegas Strip.

MGM Resorts officials say they started removing scrap metal and other materials from inside the Harmon hotel tower after a judge issued an order May 5 allowing the process to move forward.

A crane is expected to arrive in coming weeks to start taking the building apart. The process is expected to take a year.

The Harmon was designed as a 48-story tower amid the $8.5 billion CityCenter complex that opened in 2009. But construction halted in 2008 after inspectors found flaws in the steel reinforcements of the concrete structure.

The building has stood empty at 26 stories ever since.

A trial is set for September to determine who is liable for the defects.